PTSD Service Dog for Kristina: Kidnapping Survivor

Kristina is a victim to a crime: She was kidnapped and carjacked at gunpoint in front of her apartment, along with multiple acts of sexual assault by multiple people over a period of 10 hours. Due to the hard work of the city's police force, the case has reached a verdict, so the suspects involved will be put away for life. She physically safe now.

Kristina has been diagnosed with severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and major depression. Her already present anxiety has heightened to extreme levels due to my PTSD. She is currently seeing a specialized therapist, and have been taking medication, but that alone isn't enough anymore. Currently, she has trouble going anywhere alone at night. She is hyper-vigilant 24/7, have chronic nightmares that affect her throughout the day, and experience triggers/flashbacks that puts her in a dissociated state that she need to recover from. Therefore her medical team and family believe that getting a service dog would be her best next steps to healing.

They have decided to go through a non-profit dog training program called Doggie Does Good (DDG) that specializes in service dog training. They would train a dog the special tasks needed to help her through my day to day life. The training process ranges from 4-6 months, and a substantial deposit is needed to even start the training. Service dogs are generally EXPENSIVE, usually costing between $25,000-50,000, considering the countless hours of training that is put into these dogs. After consultation, DDG has stated her dog would be $40,000. The Victims Witness Protection Program has already graciously granted her $10,000 towards this dog, with $30,000 left to provide out of her own pockets.

In attempts to help regain confidence to face day to day life as well as collecting funds for the service dog, her and her family have been working hard. They’re going to need all the help they can get.Any contribution would mean so much to her!